Shaheen Shah Afridi: “Imran Khan [then Pakistan Prime Minister] suggested that I be appointed captain. Obviously, you can never say no to Imran bhai. After that I became captain of Lahore”
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Pakistan left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi has revealed that legendary all-rounder Imran Khan suggested he should be captain.
Afridi admitted he could not refuse the 1992 World Cup winning captain, who has also served as Pakistan’s Prime Minister.
From that point, the 23-year-old was put in charge of the Lahore Qalandars and led them to consecutive titles in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in 2022 and 2023.
In addition to leading the Qalandars, Afridi was also appointed as Pakistan’s T20I captain after Babar Azam stepped down from the leadership role in all three formats following the national team’s disappointing performance in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
“I have not captained at any age level, really, maybe once at Under-19 level,” Shaheen told ESPNcricinfo. “I never even had an interest in captaincy. But then in 2021, I was sitting in the PM office with Sameen bhai [Lahore Qalandars owner] and Aaqib Javed, and Imran Khan [then Pakistan Prime Minister] suggested that I be appointed captain. Obviously, you can never say no to Imran bhai. After that I became captain of Lahore. I was vice-captain, but when Imran bhai said I should be captain, that’s when the change happened.”
Afridi recently played for Pakistan in their three-match Test series against Australia, where he picked up eight wickets in two games at an average of 41.62.
He then made his debut as T20I captain in the five-match series against New Zealand and took nine wickets at an average of 19.22 and an economy rate of 8.94.
Currently, he is leading the Qalandars in PSL 9 and has claimed 11 wickets in seven matches at an average of 21.09 and an economy rate of 8.28.
Lahore Qalandars Squad for PSL 9: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Rassie van der Dussen, Haris Rauf, David Wiese, Sahibzada Farhan, Sikandar Raza, Abdullah Shafique, Zaman Khan, Mirza Tahir Baig, Mohammad Imran, Ahsan Hafeez, Dan Lawrence, Jahandad Khan, Syed Faridoun, Shai Hope, Kamran Ghulam, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Tayyab Abbas
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